Clouds covered the sun and cast long shadows over the bones of post-apocalyptic Moscow. years prior, nuclear war ravaged this once beautiful place, leaving her broken and scarred. Within the tunnels of Russia's massive subway system, the Metro, humanity continues to survive. The underground is a violent and deadly place, but the surface of the old world is a nightmare by comparison. Horrible mutations stalk the landscape, and even the air itself seeds the demise of any brave enough to venture above.

Brought back to life in a new engine, the apocalypse has never looked better than Metro Redux, an HD compilation of last generation's Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light. Gone are the murky textures and stale lighting. Replacing them is high definition resolution, sixty frames per second smoothness, and dynamic lighting, Metro Redux is the best way to witness the story of Artyom. As a citizen of the Metro, Artyom undertakes a journey to stop the Dark Ones, a race of mutated creatures with telepathic capabilities, in order to save his home station.

Artyom's tale features many twists and turns as he seeks answers. Not all of them make sense, and more times than not, it is easy to lose track of what is going on. This was more so the case in Metro 2033 than in Last Light. The dialog is cringe-worthy and the Russian accents seem forced, breaking the authenticity every time someone speaks. Last Light improved on everything 4A Games did with its predecessor, and the Redux versions has refined that winning formula further.

Metro Redux offers two distinct ways to play. In Survival, every fight I encountered was lethal and resources were scarce. I was faced with dire decisions on whether to use my last bullet to kill an enemy, or save it to buy air filters for my gas mask. This mode is undoubtedly the way Metro was meant to be played as the scarcity of supplies can create added tension. I also tried out the more forgiving Spartan mode. Ammo and other resources were readily available, and combat was less challenging. There are also several difficulties to choose from which remove the HUD, and will do away with the video game style damage system in favor of a real world "one bullet to kill" approach.

Regardless of which mode you select the fundamentals remain the same, and you are able to tackle the majority of the content stealthily - and non-lethally if you so choose. Granted you aren't given any tools to take enemies down without kill them, as players are required to sneak up behind human enemies and knock them out. Any other method will require that you put their aggression to a more permanent end. The stealth feels solid too; stick to the shadows and you are virtually invisible, but if an enemy shines a light in your area or you make a noise, the jig is up. Confrontation with the mutants of Metro is difficult to avoid.

Fighting against other humans was easily the most fun I had while playing Metro Redux, but once the different mutated monsters were introduced, I began to lose interest. There is no hiding from mutants unless scenes are scripted. They will find you, forcing players to pin their backs against a wall and hope they have enough ammo to withstand the onslaught. These fights often stretch too long as wave after wave of monsters come headlong into gunfire. Metro 2033 is a bigger culprit than Last Light. The sequel is better at pacing and enemy encounters, despite their lack of variety. Weapons pick up that slack.

Who would have thought that a simple revolver outfitted with a stock, suppressor, and high powered scope would have made for an elegant instrument of destruction? Or, a cobbled together amalgamation of bicycle parts and metal tubes to form a semi-automatic shotgun? There are many choices and tiers of weapons, from a simple side loaded sub-machine gun to a belt-fed automatic shotgun. Each has its own distinct flavor and feels like it belongs in this desolate world. At its core, Metro is a first person shooter, and a shooter is only as good as its arsenal of weapons. It delivers.

Metro 2033's improvements are staggering, which only highlights how flawed the original was. But even at its best, 2033 isn't half of what Last Light is. 4A Games set a solid foundation, but they were able to build a work of art in their second attempt. Visually, both now stand as equals thanks to the extensive remastering. 2033 spends a great deal of its time underground where everything looks the same (even exterior environments share shades of gray) which can lead to confusion when navigating terrain.

Last Light doesn't suffer from any of these hindrances. Level design is more open to accommodate varying play styles, and levels themselves have distinct appearances. Sneaking through an old sewer turned Nazi concentration camp was exhilarating; scavenging the wreck of a crashed airliner gave insight to the passenger's final moment. Another sequence deep within the tunnels of the Metro produced bandits who had attacked a caravan of displaced refugees. Hunting the cruel marauders while liberating the survivors was satisfying. The one was dark, and the bandits were monstrous. Their twisted fate was deserved.

Metro Redux is right where many remastered/HD remakes are wrong. There are meaningful changes that vastly improve Metro 2033, and enough tweaks to make Last Light worthy of now current generation consoles. Narrative work remains particularly weak, and it is hard to become invested in any characters, but the bleak tone remains constant. This new edition is the way to engage this world of loss and redemption. Not just for the characters themselves, but for humanity as well.

The Good

Remastered Visuals and Gameplay

Great Assortment of Weapons

Flexible Game Modes and Settings

The Bad

Underwhelming Narrative

Poor Voice Performances

Forced Mutant Encounters

Scrore: 8 out of 10

John has been playing video games since the 80's and lives in Baltimore. You already found him here on IGN. He's also on Twitter, Facebook, and he has channels on Youtube and Twitch. Check out hisBlog Archive for some of his previous work.

Today was the big day for Infinity Ward and Activision. Earlier they unveiled the multiplayer for CoD: Ghosts and showed off some new modes, features, and their vision for taking muliplayer into the next generation. Has IW changed enough to ease the fatigue that has set in on many long time CoD players like myself?

What's New

At first glance Ghosts looks like every other Call of Duty you've played. That's a good thing for the hardcore fans. Under the surface there are a lot of new improvements to the formula that was introduced in CoD 4: Modern Warfare. Points for kills still pop up when you get a kill and chaining kills together without dying still nets cool killstreaks to punish the opposing team.

Create class is back, but in a new and improved way. You still pick your weapon, attachments and a suite of perks to augment your play style. The biggest change comes in the form of chacater customization. You can now customize your appearance down to your face, camouflage, body armor, and a whole laundry list of other tweaks and options. This will give the player a greater sense of ownership of their character and creates further incentive for players to earn new unlocks. Also, lady soldiers are finally available to all you female gamers who want to let those insecure CoD dudebros know they just got owned by a girl.

A female soldier, definitely easier on the eyes than Captain Price and his ridiculous mustache.

Infinity Ward says they really liked Black Ops 2's Pick 10 system for create a class. Their answer was something similar but more refined. Now perks, weapons and equipment are given a point system. The player gets 8 points to spend on perks and the perks range in different point values. This creates a huge variety in how you can select perks and create varying loadouts. IW claims this is the largest overhaul they've done to multiplayer since the original Modern Warfare.

One of the new game modes introduced included Search and Rescue, a mode similar to Kill Confirmed that lets your revive teammates by collecting their tags after they have been slain. Another mode was call Cranked, a fast paced Team Death Match that challenges players to kill quickly by starting a bomb timer after they get their first kill. Go too long before getting a follow up kill and it's lights out and your character will explode.

One of the more interesting feature was the multiplayer maps themselves and that they can change drastically depending on how combat plays out. A player called in a new Killstreak called "Odin Strike" and it completely leveled the structures across the map and turned the battlefield in to a crater with wrecked structures and burning cover. Ghosts will also feature limited destructible cover. I saw a sign get blown up the same way three times from a few different scenarios, and a gas station fell over the same way every time it was damaged.

Ghosts also takes a new approach to co-op which IW is calling Squads. This mode lets players create an A.I. team to challenge other A.I. teams and essentially play out like a multiplayer match. There are multiple modes within the mode that lets you team up with up to 5 other players for 6 player co-op against A.I. or other player opponents. This seems like a mode for players who struggle with some of the more hardcore encounters that can arise from playing online offering a nice alternative.

My Take On What Was Shown

I've been playing Call of Duty since CoD 2 launched with the Xbox 360. I don't play nearly has often as many other people, but I've played enough of every iteration to see what has changed and what is the same. Black Ops was my favorite so far and Modern Warfare 3 was the worst. That being said, Ghosts seems to be taking the best from all the previous titles and mixing it up in new and creative ways.

Yes, many shooters have been letting us mantle, slide, and peek around corners for years, but the fact that Infinity Ward is finally adding these mechanics can dynamically change the pace of combat. I didn't take many negatives from what was shown of the gameplay today. It looks like a natural evolution of the formula that won't alienate hardcore fans and still offers enough new stuff for people like me who are getting tired of same thing every year. I was unimpressed with the "destructive" cover and the overall graphics, but the game looks fun and that is the most important thing.

I love the customization for the solders, and I think every game should offer ways for you to personalize your experience. Rainbow Six Vegas set an interesting customization precedent back in 2006 and I am surprised more developers haven't incorporated it. I just hope Infinity Ward offers enough options that every person doesn't look too similar.

Here is a look a two characters and their customized appearance.

I think that the biggest issue with the multiplayer isn't the gameplay itself, but some of the people you run into and the nonsense you have to suffer in order to play. That is why I find the Squads game mode so appealing. I could play Call of Duty more if I didn't have to worry about numskulls with potty mouths and poor connections ruining my evening.

The event itself was fine, a little arrogant for my tastes, but Activision conveyed enough information to really get me interested. They like to make a liar out of me that's for sure. Every year I say to myself "This is the last CoD I'm buying" and every year they show me something that makes me go "oooo, that looks cool."

I've included a few videos of some of the stuff that I liked most, below is the trailer that Activision released for the event showing off many of the new things you can expect from Call of Duty: Ghosts. What do you guys think? Sound off in the comments and let me know.

John is a lifelong gamer and writer from Baltimore, Go Ravens! You can find him all over the internet, seriously, just click these links and see for yourself. You already found him here on IGN. He's also on Twitter and Facebook. Plus, you can subscribe to his Youtube and Twitch channels, and be sure to check out his Blog Archive.

Here we go, it's the home stretch. Gamescom is right around the corner and the games are about to start hitting the shelves. I was looking over the upcoming releases and came to a conclusion, I'm going to be spending a whole lot of money. So I figured I'd share with all of you how I will be avoiding having a social life this holiday season.

Payday 2

Release Date: August 13th. Xbox 360 & PS3

This little gem looks fun as hell. I never played the first, but the temptation of living out my bank robber dreams without going to jail comes true this Tuesday. Some people may be wary because it's only $40, but that seems like a good deal considering the total lack of decent games over the last few weeks.

Splinter Cell: Blacklist

Release date: August 20th: Xbox 360, PS3 & Wii U.

I'm a huge fan of the Splinter Cell series and of stealth games in general. I loved Conviction from a few years ago and this looks like a vast improvement on every facet. Chaos Theory still has some of the best co-op I've every played and Blacklist looks like it's taking it's cues from it's legendary predecessor.

Grand Theft Auto V

Release date: September 17th. Xbox 360 & PS3

I loved Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us, but there is no doubt in my mind that GTA V will be Game of the Year. Scale, effort, and ambition oozes out of every screen shot and trailer. I cannot wait to get my hands on this game.

Batman: Arkham Origins

Release date: October 25th. Xbox 360, PS3 & Wii U.

I really wish this game was coming out a week earlier. I'm pretty sure that the new consoles will start releasing on the first Tuesday of November and I would like more than a week with it before I fire up my new console. I've been playing the beta for a little bit, WB and Splash Damage are on to something here.

Xbox One

Release date: TBA

A lot of you are Playstation fans first and everything else second. I'm not either really, but with all my friends being on XBL and the fact that I have over 122,000 gamerscore and my Gold subscription is paid up until 2015....I'm going to stick with Xbox for now. I'll get a PS4 early next year when Infamous: Second Son launches.

Dead Rising 3

Release date: TBA. Xbox One exclusive

Anyone who knows me knows I will never get my fill of zombie games. This is "The" launch game for me, that means if I could only play one, this is it. Huge open world, hundreds..if not thousands of zombies on screen, no load times and co-op...It's a recipe for the perfect game for my tastes.

Watch Dogs

Release Date: Next-Gen TBA. Every system

This game stole the show at E3 2012 and has been on my most wanted list since. This is coming out for just about every console under the sun, but I will be holding out until the launch of the next-gen consoles to get mine.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Release Date: Next-Gen TBA. Every system.

Something tells me that Ubisoft is going to do well this holiday season. They sure do like to cover all the bases and I can't fault them for that either. I was going to pass on this when it was announced, especially since I'm buying so many games, but I saw a gameplay video that changed my mind. Please Ubisoft..I don't want to regret buying another Assassin's game.

Popular Games I'm Not Buying At Launch

Battlefield 4: This game looks awesome and I want to get it, but I won't have the time necessary to really invest in the multiplayer.

Cod: Ghosts: Not a chance, I'm burnt out on Call of Duty and Activision isn't getting any more of my money.

Forza 5: I used to love racing games, but I've grown out of them over the last few years. For a racer this looks amazing, but I just can't get into them anymore.

Closing Thoughts

So the grand total I'm spending between now and December is $954 including tax, which is 6% in Maryland. That's just on games too, I plan to pick up a new laptop at the end of the month when the "Back To School" sales start. I might buy more games, but those are what I have pre-ordered. I'll be downloading the Xbox One titles instead of buying them at retail. So what games are you guys buying? Sound off in the comments or write your own blog and let me know.

John is a veteran gamer and writer from Baltimore, Maryland. He is a fan of all things video games and the Baltimore Ravens. Follow him on IGN, on Twitter and email him at JohnTheRenegade@gmail.com. Be sure to check out his Blog Archive.